TRENTON — Trenton Mayor Tony Mack announced plans Friday for the latest college expansion in the city: an academic building at the site of an abandoned apartment complex in downtown Trenton.

Thomas Edison State College intends to demolish the Glen Cairn Arms apartment building on West State Street in Trenton for the proposed $16.7 million nursing education and testing site. George Pruitt, the president of the college, said the plan accomplishes several goals, including letting the college expand and getting rid of a blighted property.

“This is a great opportunity and I’m delighted that the college and the city are able to do this,” he said.

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The building has been abandoned for more than 20 years, city spokesman Paul Harris said in a press release announcing the proposal. Harris said the building broke ground in 1925 as a luxury apartment complex and hasn’t brought in any tax revenue since it was abandoned.

Pruitt said the college will pay $300,000 instead of property taxes and finance the demolition regardless of whether they get state funding for construction. He said because the building has been abandoned for so long, the college expanding will not result in the city losing any tax revenue.

“We made a commitment to be the state capital’s state college,” he said. “We’ve worked very hard to contribute to the overall welfare and development of the city of Trenton.”

Pruitt said the building has significant asbestos contamination and will require about $1.2 million to $1.4 million to take down. He said the college will apply for $16.7 million in funds from the state’s Building Our Future Bond fund, but plans to demolish the building regardless.

He said the “boarded-up, blighted building” was hurting property values of buildings nearby, including college-owned Kuser Mansion and the Roebling Building.

Council President Phyllis Holly-Ward said she was excited about the development. She said the city had been trying to figure out what to do with the “eyesore” of a building for decades.

“I’m just happy to have the college, even though we’re going through our small trial tribulation, even while we’re having this controversy, taking this opportunity to move forward,” she said.

Mayor Tony Mack weighed in in the press release announcing the proposal.

“The City of Trenton is honored that Thomas Edison State College chose Trenton,” he said.

College officials will make a presentation about the plan at the Jan. 15 city council meeting. It will need to be approved as a resolution to hand the land over to the college and begin the process. Holly-Ward said she thought the council would support the measure.

Pruitt said the building will house a $1 million state-of-the-art simulation lab for nursing education as well as a testing center for other students. He said students from across the state will come to the building for tests in other subject areas. The proposed building will also have about 100 parking spaces for staff and students.

Pruitt said the nursing program is the only on-site study program, as most students travel to the city for testing or other evaluations, which keeps the need for the traditional physical footprint of a campus at a minimum.

Joe Guzzardo, spokesman for the college, said the building will house about 30 staff, the lab, and auditorium, lecture hall, conference rooms, testing center, locker rooms and common areas. There will be about 2,200 students visting the campus each year for various tests, he said.

Still, Pruitt said the nursing program is the fastest-growing at the 20,000 student college, and can use the extra space. He said the college wanted to do the best thing for itself, the city and the community with the new construction.

“When we balance the interest of the college, the interest of the capital city and the interest of the people of the city, then this is the way to go,” Pruitt said.